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About 40 public works directors gathered the day before the American Public Works Association's convention to learn from three colleagues who waded into asset management with virtually no idea of where the journey would take them.

All three - Michael Gantick, PE, public works director for South Windsor, Conn.; Chretien Voerg, sanitary engineer for Colonie, N.Y.; and John Jackman, PE, former public works and utilities director for Somersworth, N.H. - recommended:

Start simple; focus on one issue that will enhance operational efficiency. Initially, Gantick wanted to add GPS to South Windsor's ArcGIS Server geodatabase to improve leaf collection throughout the city's 28-squiare-mile service area. (See "Phoning it in" from our Aug. 18 e-newsletter.) Today, the city loans plowing contractors a Blackberry for each operator, and recently deducted payment when one device revealed a street in another town had been plowed.

Identify interested employees. Jackman assigned a water treatment plant operator who likes computers and technology to find out how GIS could enhance operations for the town of 18,000 residents.

"GIS gets all staff involved in providing better service on a limited budget," he said. "Tell your staff what kind of information you want to collect."

At one point, residents were sure that old clay pipes were causing a rash of sewer backups into basements. The problem was that some of the homes were connected to new PVC lines. After comparing the date of work orders against the location of each complaint, employees realized that a contractor had broken a section of pipe while replacing a section of sidewalk.